Understand

Bontoc is a gateway to up north and to other prime locations such as Banaue and Sagada. Its a small town which is easy to figure out and walk around. It does smell bad in some areas most likely do to the cooking of dog meat.

Get in

Get around

Its very easy just to walk around the main street and find everything you need. Tricycles here are cheap and I have never had a hassle paying the local rate.

See

Do

Bontoc Museum. Bontoc museum is a must see if your only stopping briefly into town. Its has many great pictures and artifacts from the Kalinga tribes.

Francis Pain (Local Guide), Churya-a Hotel, ☎09157690843. Francis is a great guide who knows 13 local dialects, he will take you up from Bontoc to the Kalinga tribes. I recommend checking out Buscalan where you can see Whang Od perform traditional tattoos as well as other very remote villages.

Buy

Eat

Etag. dried salted meat

dog meat. yeah they serve dog menus in some of the karinderias there

Drink

Cable Cafe, (right beside cable tours). This is your really only option for drinking in town. It has some great live music there and has a friendly atmosphere.

Sleep

Churya-a Hotel & Restaurant. One of the best places for a budget traveller and also has a great food menu.

Bontoc Hotel, ☎09187460044.

Ridge Brook, ☎09196755252.

ARCHOG HOTEL AND RESTAURANT, Samoki. checkin: 2; checkout: 12. i believe to be the cleanest and most class hotel in bontoc yet very affordable price, plus the service crew is friendly, they also has great food.

Contact

Get out

There is a faster way to get to the East Coast without going all the way down to Baguio. There is a daily bus from Bontoc to Cervantes which departs from the market at 930am. It costs 100 pesos and 2 hours to get to Cervantes from Bontoc. The road to cervantes wasn't quite completed as of May 2011 and to get to the town requires another 10 pesos by tricycle. Once at Cervantes, you can take a van to Tagudin, which is in between Vigan and San Fernando (La Union). The ride is another 2 hours and goes over the Bessang Pass. It costs 150 pesos. Once at Tagudin, it is relatively easy to hop on a bus going North or South. An airconditioned Partas bus heading from Tagudin to Vigan costs 153 pesos and was 2 hours long.